DeadlyKittens: Who We Are

DeadlyKittens: Who We Are

History

While the name DeadlyKittens may not be ringing many bells at the moment, its members have had their claws in the Southeast Asian Heroes scene for a while now.

It started with Singaporean team Relics, which consistently placed in the finals of every Singaporean major competition since the game was in its early stages, due in no small part to its dynamic duo, Michael “Mirr” Luo and Bjorn “Zeys” Ong. Despite its relative success, the team suffered from a high player turnover, with members coming and going almost every season. Zeys, Mirr, and a third player, Kenny “Trinity” Widjaja, stayed together through thick and thin.

Meanwhile in the Philippines, Ronel “Stronger” Tan, Neil “Nsj” San Juan (then known as vyy) and Kieron “Enavir” Goli (formerly JumpyLion) began their side of the story as team Bibingka. They were distributed into two teams under Renovatio, with Stronger and Nsj playing in R1, and Enavir in R2.

Dark Horses

Enter the Spring Championships 2016. The Singaporeans had always been the favourites to win in the regional tournaments, but not this time. The underdogs Renovatio 1 pulled out all the stops, beating both Singaporean powerhouses, Resurgence and Relics, to emerge the champions.

Summer 2016 came, and this time, Renovatio fielded just the one team, with Enavir joining the fray. Resurgence dropped out early in the competition, and it came down to Relics and Renovatio, both vying for the Southeast Asian crown. Once again, Renovatio was victorious, cementing their claim to the throne.

Sometime after, Trinity finally left Relics, which then disbanded after a two-year run, and that’s when things radically shifted.

A New Era

Renovatio, newly rebranded as Imperium Pro Team (IPT), took Mirr and Zeys on board, alongside Harharr, Stronger and Nsj. This was Southeast Asia’s best; the super team went undefeated throughout the Fall 2016 SEA Championships, wiping the floor with the competition.

Yet, once again, they went their separate ways. Frustrated with communication issues and the problems that came with having teammates from different countries, both sides returned to their roots. Mirr and Zeys formed a Singaporean team, DeadlyKittens, while Stronger and Nsj recruited Enavir and two other players, calling themselves xRenovatio.

But while united they stood, divided they fell. In the ensuing season, both teams were soundly beaten by Resurgence, who went on to Shanghai for the Eastern Clash.

Reunion

Perhaps that was the catalyst for change. Perhaps it finally dawned on all of them that sticking to their comfort zones just wasn’t enough anymore. So rather than wallow in their losses, Stronger, Mirr, Zeys, Nsj and Enavir came together once again under the name ConboxSEA for the 2017 Mid-Season Brawl. And when the dust had settled, ConboxSEA was the last team left standing.

Eager to move forward and up the ladder, the team took on Chung Khiing “Kink” Tan as their coach. Their next big break came when they were picked up by Singaporean event management company, Zenway Productions. Now known as ZW.DeadlyKittens, the team will be competing at Dreamhack Summer, held in Jönköping, Sweden, where they hope to finally make their mark on the world.

Team Members

Kink | Coach

Malaysian-born Chung Khiing “Kink” Tan has played in various different competitive teams, the most notable of which was Black Sheep 5, Malaysia’s . Eventually, he grew jaded with competitive play and decided to try his hand at various different roles in the esports scene. After a brief stint as a shoutcaster, his skills in conflict resolution and administration turned him towards team management.

Mirr: Customer service extraordinaire, or deadly kitten?

Mirr | Warrior

The de facto leader of DeadlyKittens, Michael “Mirr” Luo started his Heroes career in a team called Relics. An extremely flexible player, Mirr has an incisive understanding of the game, and is the main tank and shotcaller for the team.

Find out more about Mirr: http://zenway.sg/DeadlyKittens_Mirr

Formerly known as vyy, he made his mark as a player in the professional League team, the Manila Eagles. Today, he lends his considerable talents to the DeadlyKittens in the flex role.

Nsj | Flex

Formerly known as Vyy, Neil “Nsj” San Juan is a veteran in the competitive scene, having played as part of the professional League team, the Manila Eagles, before he put aside Champions for Heroes. He puts his considerable talents to good use in the flex role.

Find out more about NSJ: http://zenway.sg/Deadlykittens_NSJ

A jovial, humorous character, he’s the peacemaker of the team and maintains his support role both in and out of the game, taking on the responsibility of smoothing out any communication issues among his teammates.

Stronger | Support

Formerly a tank player, Ronel Flores “Stronger” Tan now takes a back seat with the support role. Always humble, he dreams of winning a major international tournament, after which he’ll change his name to Strongest.

Find out more about Stronger: http://zenway.sg/DeadlyKittens_Stronger

Not just the right-hand man anymore, Zeys, the assassin player of the DeadlyKittens, is a legend in his own right.

Zeys | Assassin

Starting out as a support player for Relics, Bjorn “Zeys” Ong put aside healing early on in favour of becoming an assassin. Since then, he and Mirr have been inseparable. Together, they held the joint spot at #1 in the Season 2 North American Leaderboards.

Enavir | Bruiser

Kieron “Enavir” Goli is the bruiser of the team, and the self-proclaimed best Butcher player in Southeast Asia. Because of him, the Butcher remains unviable in competitive play, as Blizzard refuse to buff it for fear that Enavir would never lose a game again while playing it.